A Study on Juveniles in Affluent Society
by Basil-Ovelby
Summary: -Somewhat of a sequel to ASoJiTS- Why is it always the people we love the most that hurt us the most? Andrew centric. Pre-game timeline.
1. Part 1

As said in the summary, this is somewhat of a sequel to my other fic, A Study on Juveniles in Tenement Society, but you don't have to have read that to understand this. I only recommend reading that one before this since I do introduce a number of things there that are already assumed in this. It also just gives a bit more backstory to the whole situation.

Aside from that, I just really felt like writing this after talking to TheGreatMatsutzu a bit and suddenly coming to the realization that there's so much that can be done and expanded on with these characters' backstories.

Oh, and I couldn't resist writing another story with Andrew.

This is another one of those fics that turned out far longer than I'd thought it would, so I've split it into two parts. I only have a few scenes left to write on part two, so hopefully I can get that up shortly.

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A Study on Juveniles in Affluent Society

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-Part 1-

Andrew was walking down the hallway to the kitchen when he first heard the voices. He probably would have been more surprised by them had he not realized it was already almost 10:30. He'd slept in a bit later than he'd meant to.

His bare feet made soft, padding noises as he walked on the hardwood floor.

"Why do you have to be so impossible? Every time I try to talk to you, you-"

"Oh, so it's _my_ fault now, is it? I thought that perhaps _this_ time you'd at least take _part_ of the blame."

Upon reaching the kitchen, he glanced around slightly before making his way to the pantry door. It opened with a tiny creak. The cereal was always kept on the bottom shelf, which he was continually thankful for, so he was able to grab a box of it easily, setting it just a short distance away on the dining room table. Once this was done, he idled his way around the rest of the kitchen, collecting milk from the fridge, a spoon from the silverware drawer, and finally, hoisting himself up on the countertop to get a bowl from one of the higher cupboards.

"You never listen! That's your problem! You don't like what I'm saying, so you just tune it out."

"Maybe you should try saying things a bit more intelligently then, hm?"

"_Intelligently?_ What, are you trying to say I'm not smart enough to talk to you? Is that it?"

The crunching of the cereal in his mouth almost covered up the voices, but not quite. It sure did taste good, though. He swung his legs back and forth beneath his chair, still having a good three or four inches between his feet and the floor.

"Well, considering some of the choices you'd made in the last couple of years, you shouldn't be surprised that I would question your intelligence."

"Oh, now don't start with that again! I know you're not exactly jumping for joy at my current situation, but you know what? I couldn't be happier! And now, here I am, trying to let you be a part of it and you're-"

"_Let _me be a part of it? What, does a father not have any say in his own child's life anymore?"

Andrew looked down to see most of the cereal in his bowl was gone. He watched the milk swirl behind his spoon silently, reflecting light from the ceiling lamp above. After a few minutes, he brought the bowl to his mouth to drink it.

"I'm almost twenty-one, dad! I think I can make decisions on my own now."

"Obviously not smart ones."

"You... _you..._!" There was an exasperated cry, followed by the sound of a baby wailing. The shouting ceased, and after a few minutes it grew eerily silent as the baby was quieted.

Andrew hopped down from the table, still holding the bowl in his hands. He made his way over to the nearby sink, standing on his tip-toes in order to get the bowl over the edge and into it. Returning to the table, he gathered up the rest of his breakfast items and began placing them back in their respective homes.

"I don't even know why I come back here anymore. All you ever do is tell me how disappointed you are in me, and how _you_ would have made better decisions..."

"Yes, well, why don't you just stop coming then, if it's oh-so-painful for you?"

"I thought maybe you'd like to see you grandson every now and then! He's almost a year old now and you've seen him what... twice? Three times? You never come over!"

"That would require me to converse with that flea-bag of yours. I don't even remember what you call him: Gall? Gunt?"

"It's Gil, dad."

"Oh, that's right. Good old, Gilroy come to fetch a pail of water from his family well. Now _there's_ a catch if I've ever seen one!"

Andrew meandered his way back into the hallway, this time heading for the direction of the voices. He quickly found himself on top of the balcony overlooking the front hall. The entire room was furnished in polished wood, from the walls, to the floors and the railing. Peering through the bars of said railing, he glanced down to the bottom floor as he walked to the stairs.

They were both down there, still standing in the middle of the hall. Probably hadn't even moved from the spot from where she'd first come in.

Snaking his way down the stairwell, he let his tail bump on the steps behind him. He was careful not to slip on the polished surfaces.

"Dee!"

Both of those on the ground floor looked up as he finished his descent. "Drew-bear!" The woman beamed towards him, repositioning the baby in her arms to sit more comfortably on her hip. "I was _wondering _where you were!"

Andrew ran up to her, hugging around her waist. She brought up her free hand to ruffle the top of his head.

"How's my favorite cousin?"

Grinning, he lifted his head as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "I'm your _only_ cousin."

"That doesn't mean you're not the best!" She tapped a finger to his forehead. As she shifted the baby up one more time, she glanced down at him again, this time her eyebrows furrowing a bit in concern. "Hey, what happened, bud?" She kneeled down so she was at his level.

He bit his lip a bit nervously as she gently traced a finger along the dark circle he'd developed around his eye. "I... I got in a fight at school."

"Aww, Drew-bear..." She was eyeing the cut on his forehead too. "Those older guys still picking on you?"

He shifted his eyes to the floor, but gave his head a tiny shake.

"Why didn't you clean this up?" She'd now turned to face her former conversation partner, a rather annoyed expression drifting onto her face. Andrew also glanced up, looking at his uncle for the first time since he'd come down the stairs.

"He's plenty capable of taking care of himself." Andross had his arms crossed over his chest, looking none too happy that Andrew had decided to make an appearance.

Dee turned back to her cousin, chewing her bottom lip in concern. "Oh, come on – he's only eight!" Her voice became softer. "You want me to clean that up? Get you a band-aid or something?"

Andrew nodded again.

With a slight grunt, she got to her feet, shifting the baby to her other arm. "Alright, come on, bud." She held out her hand for Andrew to take.

Andross didn't say anything, just watched them as they made their way back over to the stairs. Andrew glanced back behind him, but quickly turned forward again upon meeting his uncle's eyes.

When they made it to the top landing, they took the left hallway a short ways until they reached the bathroom, Dee flicking the light switch with her hip on the way in. After setting the baby on the sink counter, she kneeled down to the cupboard underneath to grab a clean washcloth.

"Alright, on the toilet." She gestured towards it, waiting for him to sit down on it before scooting forward on her knees.

Andrew watched her curiously as she got the cloth wet and then began patting it gently against his forehead.

"So... were you at least able to get in a few punches?"

He shifted his eyes off to the right, not saying anything. Dee glanced down at him as she paused.

"No?"

He chewed on his lip, the bathtub next to him suddenly very interesting.

"Well, that's ok. You'll get back at them soon enough." She returned to patting his forehead, letting the cloth come down to the side of his cheek where she'd noticed some shallow scratches. The baby on the counter was making small whimpering noises now, and she could see him squirming out of the corner of her eye.

"So, how _is_ school going?"

"It's ok." The cloth felt really good against his skin.

"You're in second-grade now... right?"

"Mm." He combined this with a slight head nod. The baby was starting to get even more anxious.

She didn't say anything as she continued rubbing the cloth against his skin, his own imploring eyes staring back up at her. She was just about to move back when her eyes traveled down to his neck.

She stopped.

"Oh, did you get hit down here too?" There was a rather dark bruise on the side of his neck, trailing down under the collar of his pajamas.

He instinctively brought a hand up to cover it. "Oh, uh... yeah... it's nothing, though..."

"_Andrew..._ let me see..."

He shook his head.

"I just wanna look at it..."

The baby started crying, his arms flailing about a bit on top of the counter.

Dee let out an exasperated sigh. "Christ... _Dash!_" She was up on her feet and over to the counter, picking the baby up and setting him against her chest. She gently rubbed her hand on his back while letting her torso bounce slightly.

"Shhh... shhh..."

Andrew brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs while he watched.

When Dash had finally settled down, she stepped back over to the toilet, still holding him against her shoulder. "Hey Drew-bear, whaddya say about some ice cream, hm?"

Andrew's eyes lit up.

"Wanna get some?"

He nodded his head vigorously.

"Alright, go change then. I'll go tell my dad."

He was off in an instant, out of the bathroom and to his own room. He pulled his top over his head as he walked to his dresser, popping the top drawer open and rifling through the piles of clothes. He settled on his gold, dinosaur t-shirt, yanking it on without a second thought.

When he opened the bottom drawer, his eyes narrowed a bit upon seeing that he had no pants. He made his way over to the rather full laundry hamper in his closet and pulled out a pair that had been tossed over the top. They still looked fine.

He was just about to rush back out of the room when a quick thought flashed through his head. He turned back around, eyes glancing about as if searching. They finally found what they were looking for and he darted forward, grabbing his arm-warmer from the mussed-up blankets of his bed and sliding it over his arm.

He didn't want to leave without that.

Now that he was fully ready, he went back outside into the hallway, making his way to the landing to see where Dee had gone. She wasn't down in the entryway anymore, so he kept going past the stairs, trying to listen for voices.

Which he heard coming from the kitchen.

He popped his head inside a bit tentatively, hoping that they weren't arguing again. Thankfully, they appeared to be having a much calmer conversation. Andross was pouring himself a cup of coffee from the half-full pot, and Dee had her cell phone out now, inputting numbers into the keypad. Dash had been set up on the table where he was now patting his feet and mumbling some incoherent baby-talk.

Andrew meandered inside, hands clasped behind his back as he ducked his head almost nervously.

Andross blew on the coffee before taking a small sip, setting the mug back down on the counter. When he saw Andrew, a rather annoyed expression crossed his face and he stepped forward to grab him by the arm, yanking him closer.

"Andrew, what have I told you about putting your dishes into the dishwasher?"

Andrew gave a small, pained squeak.

"_Dad_." Dee glared at her father before slapping him across the shoulder. "Oh, hey honey. Yeah, you can come get us now." She repositioned the phone on her shoulder before reaching over with her free hand to pull Andrew towards her, idly ruffling the top of his head. "We wanna go get some ice cream." Andrew could hear the muffled sound of his cousin-in-law through the receiver. "Yeah, yeah... he's with us too."

The conversation went on for a few minutes as Andrew simply listened. He glanced up once towards his uncle, but the expression on his face was a bit menacing, so he kept his head pointed towards the ground the rest of the time.

"Alright, we'll be down in a few minutes... yeah, we'll just meet you at the car." She smiled. "Love you too, honey." She pulled the phone away from her ear and clicked it shut. "Gil's coming to get us."

Andross opened his mouth to say something, but Dee cut him off before he could even start. "_Don't..._ say anything." She reached down to take Andrew's hand, then stepping back to the table to pull Dash up into her other arm. "Come on; let's go downstairs to wait for him."

Andrew gratefully followed after her, though he could hear the footsteps behind him, signaling that his uncle was coming too. They walked back to the entryway without much of a hitch, Dash making a few excited gurgles every so often.

When they'd made it to the front door, Dee peeked out the side windows, looking around for Gil's car. "Not here yet." She stepped back, turning around to face Andross.

"Late, again?"

Dee shot him an exasperated look. "Dad, why is everything you ever say about him something negative?"

"I'd say something positive if there were something positive to say."

Dee didn't respond, her shoulders slumping slightly in defeat. Andrew brought a hand up to scratch the bridge of his nose as he glanced between the two of them.

There was the sound of a car pulling up into the driveway, and both Dee and Andrew turned back to the window to peer out. "There we go!" She let go of his hand to pull open the door, pushing it out with her hip. "We'll be back in a little while."

"I'll be listening for sirens."

Dee's eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything. Finally, she ushered Andrew out by his shoulder and pulled the door shut behind them.

There was a short honk from the car waiting for them, which caused her to laugh as she walked towards the driveway. She waved, approaching the car and opening one of the back doors for Andrew to climb in.

"Hey, honey."

"Hey, Deedle-bug."

She grinned before walking to the other side of the car and fastening Dash into his carseat. Once sure that he was secure, she opened up the passenger door and slid in.

"How'd it go with the old man?"

"How does it _always_ go with my dad?"

"That bad, huh?"

Gil pulled the car into reverse and began backing out of the driveway.

"That man... he's just... "She let out an exasperated sigh. "He's so impossible. I thought he was bad around the time mom left, but... it's like he just keeps getting worse. I can barely hold a civil conversation with him anymore."

Gil checked his rearview mirror, pulling out into the street and starting off down the road. "Maybe he's going senile." This was followed by a small chuckle.

"Senile? More like... manic. Seriously, he doesn't listen to anybody, he argues constantly... I don't even know what to do with him anymore!"

It was silent for a few minutes, the music on the radio drifting through the car. Andrew was sitting with his hands on his legs, watching Dash as he chewed on one of the straps of his carseat.

"How are you doin' today, Andrew?"

He glanced up to see Gil looking back at him through the rearview mirror. "I'm fine." He scratched the top of his nose.

"Andrew got in a bit of a fight at school."

"Are you beatin' up all the older kids again? I thought we talked about this – you've gotta give them at least _some_ chance!"

Andrew laughed, leaning forward to grab the top the front seat.

"Pretty soon, you're gonna have 'em all cowering back behind their desks!"

"_Gil..._" Dee gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. Andrew continued to grin from the backseat.

"So, anyway, what's this about ice cream? You don't like ice cream, do you, Andrew?"

"Yes, I do!" He bounced up and down.

"_Really_? Well, then it's a good thing I've got a hankerin' for some ice cream myself. A chocolate shake sure does sound good."

"I want a sundae!"

"A sundae? But Andrew... I just got a call from the ice cream place before I left - seems like they're all out of sundaes." Gil bit his lip to hold back his grin.

Andrew's eyes grew large as his face fell. "They're all out...?"

"Gilroy, you turd!" Dee gave him another punch on the shoulder. "Andrew, they're _not_ out of sundaes."

Gil laughed, flicking on his turning signal before taking a right into the downtown area.

"Oh, whew..." Andrew sat back down, breathing a sigh of relief. He glanced back over at Dash, who was now staring up at him with his huge eyes. "Is Dash gonna have any ice cream?"

Dee turned her head slightly to look back. "Dash is still too little to eat ice cream, but I have a bottle for him."

Andrew leaned towards Dash, his face right up in the baby's, before giving his nose a small poke. Dash tried to eat his finger.

Up in the front seat, Gil had just turned onto Creston Blvd. and was coming up to their turn. "Heeere we are!" There was a small bump as the car pulled into the drive.

"Yay!" Andrew clapped his hands together. He watched through the window as Gil parked the car into the nearest spot, the sound of the engine dying around them as the car was turned off.

He was the first one out, practically wrenching off the door handle and jumping out onto the asphalt. Gil adjusted his sunglasses before stepping out as well, shutting the door behind him followed by Andrew's that he'd left open. Dee followed suit, stopping to pull Dash from his carseat before walking up to join the other two.

The bright, red roof of Dilbert's Ice Cream Shoppe glinted in the sun as Andrew rushed over to the door, pulling it open with a slight grunt. He kept pushing it backwards until it was wide-open, holding it until both Gil and Dee were through.

"Well, thanks, little man." Gil gave him a small pat on the head.

The line inside wasn't too long, as it looked like most of the people there were already enjoying their orders. The four of them took their place in line, glancing up at the hand-written signs above the counter.

"I already know what I want!" Andrew tugged on the bottom of Gil's shirt.

"And what's that?"

"A hot-fudge sundae."

Gil laughed. "Well, I guess we can handle that. Why don't you go find us a table?"

Andrew gave a quick nod before wandering off, his eyes scanning the inside of the small shop. There were a lot of tables already taken, but a booth towards the back looked empty. He made his way back towards it. It looked a bit dirty – obviously, the last user had just left, but it wasn't too bad. Besides, booths were better than tables by _far_.

He pulled himself up onto the seat, scooting over to the middle and swiping across the table with his hands. It looked a bit better now.

The mood around him was quite exuberant, the sound of delighted conversations coming from all corners of the shop. There were a number of smaller kids running about between the tables, many of their faces already covered with ice cream. One young koala looked positively _covered_ in chocolate syrup.

Sitting patiently, he swung his legs back and forth underneath the table, hitting them against the side of his seat with tiny thuds. Above him, a speaker was letting out a tinny-sounding song, adding to the almost carnival-like atmosphere that seemed to envelope the entire shop.

After a few minutes, he finally saw Dee and Gil making their way back to him, carrying a number of cups in their hands. Gil gave a little grunt as he slid himself into the seat across from Andrew, his sunglasses now propped up on his head.

"Here ya go, kiddo." He handed across the sundae that Andrew'd been eyeing since he first saw it with him. The ape immediately took a large spoonful and stuffed it into his mouth.

Dee set her own ice cream down on the table before leaning forward to place Dash in the seat beside Andrew. After making sure he was properly situated, she slid in beside her husband.

"Taste good?"

Andrew nodded vigorously, mouth too full to talk. Beside him, Dash was banging his bottle against the side of the table, splashes of milk flying out.

They sat in comfortable silence for the next couple of minutes, simply enjoying their ice cream while making sure that Dash didn't hurt himself with the bottle. In the booth next to them, an elderly elephant couple was just finishing up their own treats, packing everything up to throw in the trash.

Andrew, himself, was quite absorbed in his ice cream. He was already almost half-way done with it when he realized that both Dee and Gil were watching him, occasionally whispering something to each other.

He stopped with the next spoonful almost to his mouth, looking up at them.

Both realized this at the same time, smiling down at Andrew as if nothing was wrong.

"What is it?"

"You're saying something about me."

"Oh, don't be silly." Dee laughed it off with a wave of her hand.

Andrew's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked from Dee to Gil and then back. He brought the spoonful of ice cream to his mouth.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Dee turned to her husband once more, raising her eyebrows as she whispered something else. Gil scratched at the back of his neck, his eyes coming up to glance at Andrew every now and then.

Andrew definitely didn't like this.

He settled back into his seat, chewing on his bottom lip. Turning his head to the side, he caught Dash looking at him with his bottle half-way in his mouth. The baby's eyes were staring at him a bit inquisitively.

He reached forward to grab Dash under the armpits, pulling him into his chest for a hug.

"Hey, Drew-bear? I'm gonna go use the bathroom... you have to go?" Dee was idly stirring the last of her shake with her spoon.

Andrew was holding Dash's hands in his, clapping them together while Dash made happy, squealing noises. "Not really..."

She glanced back at Gil, who simply narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Come on, you don't wanna have to go in the car, do you?"

Taking Dash's wrist, Andrew raised the baby's hand, making him wave towards his parents. "...I guess not."

"Alright then, let's go." She slid up out of her seat, gesturing with her hand. Andrew hauled Dash out of his lap and back onto the seat beside him before scooting out under the table. He immediately grabbed Dee's hand, glancing up at her before both of them began walking towards the front of the shop.

She didn't say anything as they walked, and it didn't take them long to get to the small hallway behind the counter where the restroom was. She knocked quickly to make sure no one was using it, then stepped inside, pulling Andrew after her.

He watched her lock the door.

"Drew-bear...?" She seemed almost nervous, turning back around and kneeling down to be at his level. "Will you let me look at that bruise on your neck?"

Andrew shook his head in refusal, backing away slightly.

"Andrew, please."

He brought his hand up to his neck, covering whatever could still be seen of it beneath his collar.

"I'm trying to help, just let me..." She reached forward to grab his arm, pulling it away. He instantly gave a pained squeak and tried to yank it back.

Her eyes narrowed. She let go of his arm, though she grabbed his shoulder to pull him towards her. Snatching his hand, she raised his arm into the air so she could see it better, pulling off the arm-warmer he'd been so careful to put on earlier.

His arm beneath it was an ugly shade of purplish-brown.

"Andrew..." Dee bit her lip, not able to look away. Andrew gave a tiny whimper, looking down at the ground in shame.

Without a second thought, she took his other arm up above his head, reaching down to grab the bottom of his shirt and pull it up over him. Once he became free of the confines, he instinctively brought his arms across his chest, curling his head forward.

"Andrew, up. Look at me."

It took a few moments, but he finally did.

She took his chin in her hand, the other one tracing down his neck to look at the bruise there. It spread from his neck down to his collarbone, almost to the edge of his shoulder. From there, her eyes scanned the rest of his torso, finding a number of others across his chest and stomach. In fact, the entirety of his lower stomach seemed slightly discolored.

Andrew felt tears spring to his eyes.

"Andrew, these did not come from school."

He didn't say anything, once more just staring at the ground.

"Who did this to you, Andrew?"

No answer.

"Did somebody hit you?"

He shook his head almost fearfully.

"Andrew... _Andrew._" She took his chin again, forcing him to look at her. "_Did my dad hit you?_"

He wrenched his head away, shaking it again.

Dee brought a hand up to rub between her eyes, her gaze shifting to the ground. She chewed on her lip, grimacing a bit as she tasted blood in her mouth.

"Andrew, you can trust me. You're safe here... you need to tell me who did this."

Andrew crossed his arms over his chest again, leaning forward slightly. His bottom lip was quivering.

"Andrew..." She brought a hand up to run through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck gently.

A few tears worked their way out of his eyes, running down his cheeks and blurring his vision. He clenched his eyes shut before shaking his head once again.

Dee pressed her lips tightly together, eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, Drew-bear..." She brought her arms up around his shoulders, pulling him in to her chest. He buried his face into her shirt, still shaking.

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The ride back home was much quieter than the one to the shop. Andrew sat in the back, his hands in his lap with his head tilted down. Dee and Gil were talking quietly amongst themselves, Dee bringing a hand up to massage her temple every now and then. Even Dash was surprisingly silent, having calmed down quite a bit.

Andrew brought his head up slightly to glance at his younger cousin, finding him practically asleep inside the carseat.

There was a sharp clicking noise from the front as Gil put on the turning signal, pulling the car into the driveway. Andrew felt the car slant upwards.

When the car came to a complete stop, no one moved for a second. Finally, Dee opened her door, stepping out onto the cement. Andrew watched her walk around the car before stopping at his own door, opening it with a click.

"Come on, I'll take you back inside." She held out her hand for him, which he took before stepping out of the vehicle himself. She gave him a sad glance before they began walking up the sidewalk, her sandals making flopping noises against the ground.

When they got onto the porch, she stopped, kneeling down next to him. She brought her other hand up to grip his hand with both of hers.

"Alright... I'm gonna go home now, ok?"

He gave a rather stiff nod.

"Drew-bear, I'm gonna call someone who can help... they're probably gonna come ask you some questions or talk to you. You can trust them. Tell them the truth, tell them everything... you're gonna be safe, ok?"

Another nod.

She pulled him into a hug. "Andrew, I love you. Remember that."

He brought his own arms up to wrap around her neck, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

After a few moments, she finally took a hold of his shoulders and pushed him away gently. She gave him a grin, poking his nose with her thumb. "Alright, bud. Now go and enjoy the rest of your day off."

He let a small smile come to his face before walking over to the door and pushing it open. Dee was back on her feet as she gave him a quick wave, turning back to walk to the car.

Andrew shoved the door closed behind him, letting himself rest his back on it for a second. His eyes searched the entirety of the entryway. Nothing. No one. It was perfectly quiet.

The tension in his shoulders he hadn't even known was there slowly relaxed.

After a few more moments, he stepped away, making his way over to the stairway. He grasped the railing tightly as he made his way up, the wood making tiny squeaks under his sneakers.

He wanted to go to his room, suddenly feeling very tired. He brought a hand up to rub at his eyes as he turned down the left hallway. His room was the farthest door, and when he saw it, he felt himself relax even more.

"Back so soon, Andrew?"

His body went rigid. He was in front of the door to his uncle's room, the door, itself, slightly ajar.

;Ever so slightly, he stepped towards it, pushing the door open further with his fingertips. Upon peeking his head in, he saw his uncle sitting in one of his high-back chairs, facing away from him and towards the dark fireplace in the wall. He appeared to be reading a book.

Andrew held onto the doorknob, leaning slightly against the door. "U...Uncle Andross?"

Andross turned a page in his book, still not looking up. He didn't say anything for a few moments.

"Come here, Andrew. There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

His tail instinctively curled up between his legs, but he let go of the doorknob. Ever so slowly, he put one foot in front of the other and began making his way across the room.

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When Andrew woke up the next morning, he couldn't help but feel rather uncomfortable. Something was wet.

He groggily got up on his hands and knees, eyes trying to adjust themselves to the morning light that was coming in through the window. He yawned. Finally looking back towards his bed, he felt his face fall, almost letting out an audible sigh.

He'd wet the bed again.

Sliding off the covers, he took a few teetering steps towards his closet. He pulled out the first pair of underwear he found from the drawers, then silently chewed on his lip when he remembered he still didn't have any clean pants. With another trip to the hamper, he nabbed the same pair of pants he'd worn yesterday.

Once he'd changed, he felt quite a bit better, but there were still the bedsheets that had to be taken care of. He climbed back up on the bed and began pulling off the blankets and sheets, piling them on the floor below. Thankfully, most of the blankets themselves seemed dry – it was just the bottom sheet and mattress cover.

He gathered those two up in his arms, walking over to the door and opening it quietly. He peeped his head out to listen.

There was nothing.

His tail curling up around itself, he snuck slowly out into the hallway and back to the stairwell. In his barefeet, he was able to pad across the wooden floors almost noiselessly, which brought him some relief. Stretching his feet out to find each stair before stepping down, he made it to the bottom without much difficulty and then walked into the back hallway. The only rooms down here were a few storage closets and the laundry room.

The door to said laundry room was already slightly ajar, which Andrew found odd, but he paid it no heed, turning backwards to push it open with his rear. The fluorescent light from above blinded him for a second compared to the dark hallway, but he walked all the way inside and towards the washer.

Which Andross was standing right next to.

He stopped almost instantly, breath frozen in his lungs. Andross was watching something in the dryer, looking a bit impatient. He glanced up, however, now that Andrew was near.

"I, uh... I..."

"You wet the bed _again_? What's wrong with you, boy?"

Andrew instinctively ducked his head in, bringing one hand up to cover his face. But nothing came – Andross continued to stand there, his gaze once more returning to the dryer. He peeped open one eye to look, confused.

"Well, are you going to stand there like an idiot all day, or are you going to set them up on the counter so I can wash them later?"

Andrew immediately darted forward past Andross, standing up on his toes so he could haul the sheets up onto the top of the washer. Once this was done, he turned back around a bit awkwardly, scratching one leg with the other.

"Go get ready, you ignorant fool!" Andross shot him an exasperated look, causing Andrew to jog quickly out of the laundry room. He was back to the stairs in less than a few seconds, where he paused for a moment to catch his breath. Once he'd calmed down a bit, he started up to the stairs and back to his room.

It didn't take him long to get ready for school. He'd already changed out of his pajama bottoms, so all he had left to do there was slip on a clean shirt. From there, he simply made what was left of his bed and then started on his way to the kitchen to put his lunch together. Setting his striped lunchbox up on the table, he searched through the pantry until he found something he could take.

There wasn't much. What was left of the bread had already started to get a bit crusty, and they didn't have any meat to put in a sandwich anyway. He finally decided to put some peanut butter on some three-day old dinner rolls they'd had a short while ago. That would be good enough. In the fridge, he found a half-full bag of carrots and grabbed those along with the milk carton. Once he'd packed the food items into his lunchbox, he pulled the thermos out to fill it with milk.

It was around this time that Andross came into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee pot. He pulled a travel mug out of one of the top cupboards.

"Are you almost ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Andrew watched him fill up the mug, zipping his lunchbox shut a bit tentatively.

"Go put your shoes on."

He grabbed his lunch off the table and made his way out of the kitchen, descending the steps for the second time that morning. Once at the bottom, he found his shoes next to the door and slipped them on over his bare feet.

Andross was close behind him. His steps resounded through the entryway as he walked briskly down the stairs. Already wearing his shoes, all he had to do was pick up the briefcase he'd set against the wall the night before.

Now that they were both ready, they walked to the back hallway where the entrance to the garage was and stepped out into it, Andross unlocking the car as they did so. Andrew jogged quickly to the other side of the vehicle and opened the passenger door before slipping in. Once Andross was inside, he clicked the garage-door opener before starting up the car.

Andrew watched from his window as they pulled out of the driveway, barely pausing a moment before they were out on the street. He turned to see his uncle take a sip from his coffee as they started their way downtown.

Relaxing a bit in his seat, Andrew swung his feet idly underneath him. Andross had turned the radio station to a news channel or talk show of some sort, which didn't exactly intrigue him, so he quickly tuned it out, simply staring ahead of himself.

In fact, he would have stayed in that same position for the remainder of the drive had he not noticed they didn't turn down the street to his school. His eyes narrowing, he sat up straight in his seat to glance out the window, watching as the turn they should have taken traveled further and further away from them.

"Uncle Andross, you missed the turn."

"You're not going to school today, Andrew."

He turned to look at his uncle, a confused expression crossing his face.

"You're coming to work with me."

His hand came up to scratch across the bridge of his nose, and he waited a moment before sitting back down in his seat. He was thoroughly confused now – this had certainly never happened before! He was a bit afraid to ask why, though.

He turned his head to watch as they kept traveling through the downtown area, pulling onto a street with a number of large buildings situated along the sides. They continued this for a while until, at the second stop-light, he took a left into a rather large parking area. After a few minutes, he pulled the car into a free parking spot, yanking it into park and pulling the key out of the starter.

Andrew watched him, unsure of what to do.

"Come on, come on... out of the car." Andross reached into the backseat to grab his briefcase. Andrew quickly opened his door and stepped out, glancing around at the unfamiliar territory.

With an abrupt slam, his uncle closed the car door and began walking towards the large building situated at the end of the parking lot. Darting forward to catch up, Andrew reached the older ape's side, quickly falling in step.

They'd just about reached the door when Andross stopped, almost causing Andrew to run smack into him. He knelt down, holding one of his arms out without saying a word.

Andrew glanced up at him, confused.

"Up! Come on." He jerked his arm forward.

After a moment's hesitation, Andrew finally stepped forward a bit tentatively, reaching his arms up to wrap around his uncle's shoulders. Andross took no time in standing back up, hoisting Andrew up by his rear, and then proceeding on into the building.

Andrew watched as the scenery passed him by in reverse. The entire situation seemed a bit awkward at first, but after a few minutes, he couldn't help but lower his head to rest on his uncle's shoulder. He was suddenly four again, taking a trip with his uncle to the amusement park. He buried his head into the fabric of Andross' shirt.

Andross, himself, made his way swiftly through security, not even saying anything to the guards. He walked past a number of others that were milling about before stepping into an already open elevator. A black cat in a red pant-suit looked up at him when they entered.

"How ya doin' this mornin', sir?"

"As well as can be expected, Cindy."

"I can hear that, sure. Another Monday, another long week. You goin' down to the lab?"

Andross nodded a bit hurriedly. "Yes, yes, B2."

She lazily reached over to push the button, the round plastic instantly lighting up.

"Ya know, sometimes I really wonda' about this job. I mean, how much are we really gettin' accomplished here? Alls I know is my husband keeps askin' me to take some time off, wants to go onna vacation, yeah? But those damn supervisors, they keep..."

The elevator hummed to life, and Andrew felt themselves start descending below the ground.

"...so then I simply said... oh hey, wait. Who's the kid? I didn't know you was a father."

Andross' eyes narrowed in an exasperated manner before he turned his head to look at her. "Well, I _am _a father, but this one's not mine. A nephew, is all. He's sick today."

The cat put a hand to her mouth. "The poor thing... look at 'im, all tuckered out like that. You lookin' after 'im for his parents today?"

Andross sighed, teeth clenched together slightly. "No, I'm afraid his parents passed on some time ago. I'm the one who takes care of him."

"Well, isn't that a cryin' shame? So many kids these days, they all seem ta be losin' their parents... must be hard on 'em. I knew a girl back in my preschool days, she clean lost all 'er relatives, it seemed. All alone in the world. It just brings ya to tears, practically. I once tried ta..."

The elevator opened and Andross promptly stepped out, leaving the black cat to finish her story without him.

Andrew began watching with keen interest as they walked through this new room. It was a large laboratory, tables and workstations situated about, many of them with people already hard at work behind them. The fluorescent lights from above cast harsh glares across the majority of the room, making everything seem super-realistic. He clenched his hands into his uncle's shirt a bit tighter.

Andross continued on towards the back of the lab, where a door led into a smaller office. Upon entering it, he placed Andrew down on the desk inside before shutting the door behind them. He immediately sat down at the desk, flipping the computer monitor on and opening the folder of papers that had been sitting on top.

Andrew observed all this silently, fidgeting a bit as he sat awkwardly on the desk. He glanced around the small office, taking note of the framed certificates lining the walls and the nearby shelf that seemed to be overflowing with books. His tail flipped up curiously as his eyes then traveled across the mess of paperwork that was covering the desk.

He watched his uncle scan through a large packet, licking his finger every so often before leafing to the next page. The computer in front of him made a series of beeping noises as it loaded, the screen springing to life.

He was really beginning to wonder what was going on when the door burst open, a disheveled-looking panda practically barging inside.

"You're finally here! You had me fuckin' pacing! I thought we said we were gonna meet a half hour earlier today?"

Andross didn't even look up. "Yes, well, I had a few things come up which took longer than expected."

The panda shut the door behind him, eying the window that led back into the lab. "Everything's still on, though, right? I mean, I set it all up like you told me to."

"Of course it's still on - I brought Andrew, didn't I?"

The panda finally let his eyes fall on Andrew, searching him. He took a few steps towards the desk. "So this's your nephew, huh?" He poked him in the chest, causing Andrew to jerk back slightly. "Scrawny little fellah, ain't he?"

Andross let his eyes glance up to watch the panda for just a moment before returning to the paper. "Indeed."

The panda continued staring at him as he simply sat there, causing Andrew to feel more than a bit awkward. He kept his head forward, looking down at his lap. Andross was now typing something into the computer.

"I just need to burn this onto the CD." There was the sound of a compartment opening before getting shoved back into the machine. As a rather loud whirring noise began echoing out from it, Andross stood back up from the desk, placing the papers he'd been perusing onto a black, plastic shelf that was situated on his desk.

It was silent for a few minutes as they listened to the whir rise and fall, finally slowing down a complete stop. The CD popped back out. Andross snatched it from the drive, handing it over to the panda before returning to Andrew and lifting him from the desk. The three of them were then on their way out of the office and towards the back of the lab.

There was a lone door there, painted a dull, gray color. The panda made it there first, pushing it open and holding it for Andross. Inside was the emergency stairwell. The dim concrete shone an almost greenish color due to the lights on the walls. It was the kind of environment Andrew had always wanted to shout in, hearing his voice echo through the tall tunnel. Unfortunately, now wasn't exactly a good time to fulfill this dream.

Both Andross and the panda made their way briskly down the staircase, passing the first door they came to and continuing down to the next. When this door was pushed open, they were met with an almost stark white hallway. Towards one end was an elevator, probably the same one they'd used to get to the lab, and towards the other end, much farther down, was a sealed glass door leading into what looked like another office of some sort. A number of other doors lined the hallway.

Andrew looked at the panda, who now seemed a bit nervous. He kept bringing a hand up to run through the fur on the top of his head. His uncle didn't seem to be feeling a thing, however, looking back and forth as calmly as if he were in the hallway of his own house. After only a moment or two, they were walking down the hallway, quickly shoving one of the doors open and stepping inside.

It was a restroom.

Andrew was promptly set on the ground near the back, the panda glancing down beneath each of the stalls to make sure no one was there. When he was finished checking, he shot Andross a thumbs-up.

Andross turned his gaze towards Andrew. "Andrew. _Andrew_." He snapped his fingers, causing Andrew to jerk a bit in surprise. "Andrew, listen to me. What I need you to do now is very important."

The panda was now standing up on his toes against one of the other walls, using a screwdriver to unscrew an airvent that was in the corner.

"We're going to need you to crawl through the airvent to get behind that glass door you saw earlier. Once you get in there, there will be a switch near the door that will unlock it. You need to push it so that we can get in."

Andrew chewed on his finger nervously. "But... but..."

Andross slapped his face with the back of his hand, causing him to taste blood in his mouth. "Speak up, boy! Do you understand or not?"

Andrew nodded his head quickly, trying to appear less apprehensive than he felt.

"Good." Andross turned back towards the panda, who'd just finished unscrewing the last screw on the airvent, bringing it down in his hands. The dark rectangle loomed ominously on the side of the wall, causing Andrew's throat to stick as he tried to swallow.

"All set." The panda looked towards them, finally focusing down on Andrew.

Andross promptly picked Andrew up under the armpits, carrying him over towards the wall. Upon reaching it, he launched him into the hole face-first. Andrew whimpered, his feet kicking out behind him, before he was shoved all the way in with another push to his rear.

The space was tight. Almost too tight. And it was so dark he could barely see. The walls hugged against his shoulders, pressing into them, pressing against his whole body. He wanted to start crying, but he knew he couldn't.

"Alright, Andrew. Now, if you just keep going straight forward, you should eventually hit another wall. From there, take a left and you'll reach the vent that leads to the room. You'll need to unscrew the ventcover and pop it off to get in."

Andrew tried to nod his head, but just ended up hitting it against the top of the tunnel.

"Andrew, _do you understand?_"

He bit his lip, trying to hold back another whimper. "Y...yeah..." His voice echoed off the tin walls.

Holding his breath, he finally started to move forward. It was exceedingly difficult. Each time he tried to reach an arm out, the walls would dig into his knees. He felt like he was trapped in a tiny box with no way out, barely even able to breath. A tear threatened to fall down his cheek, but there was no way for him to wipe it away. When an itch began forming on the side of his thigh, there was no way for him to scratch it.

He continued moving forward, inch by inch. The walls threatened to close in on him. He felt like the air was thinning, but that was before realizing that he was simply breathing far too quickly. His heart echoed in his head.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever. He wondered how long it had been. He knew that it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but even a few seconds trapped in this tunnel felt like an hour. He was beginning to question whether there was even an end or not. Maybe his uncle just wanted to kill him. Maybe he wanted to trap him in here, have the air eventually run out, have him suffocate to death. Or perhaps there was some evil creature looming in the darkness, reading to attack him when there was nothing he could do to defend himself.

He was just about convinced that the itch on his leg was really a crawling centipede when his head abruptly ran into the wall in front of him. He cringed slightly, pulling away. Off to his left he could finally see light, which automatically made him feel quite relieved. He turned down this new path and began making his way towards the end.

His uncle had been right – there was another ventcover securely attached to the side. He was so close... so close to freedom. He could look out into the office down below. It was completely empty, a few running computers, but nothing else. He could also see the glass door that he was supposed to go unlock.

But still, everything was behind those imprisoning bars of the ventcover.

He looked towards the four corners, locating the screws. Reaching a hand out, he grabbed the end of one between his thumb and index finger and began trying to unscrew it. It didn't even budge.

He began to panic. What if he couldn't get the vent unscrewed? Would he be stuck here forever? The tunnel was too small for him to turn around. He was trapped, oh, he was trapped.

He tried again. Still no luck. His fingers slid uselessly against the grooves of the screw, simply leaving painful crease marks in his skin.

Tears threatened to come to his eyes again, and he could feel his breathing start to quicken. He wanted to just ram his head against the cover. Suddenly, it felt like the air around him was becoming hot and stuffy, making his head swim.

Attempting as much as he could to calm himself down, he tried one more time. He pressed his fingers together as tight as he could around the edge of the screw, twisting it with all his might.

The screw began moving.

The tension in his body immediately decreased, the sound of the screw turning seeming like a beautiful symphony to his ears. He continued turning it slowly, not wanting to jinx his chance. Finally, with one last, loose turn, the screw fell out of the hole and to the ground below.

His need to get out of the tunnel as quickly as possible had him twisting the next screw almost immediately. This one turned much easier, and it only took a number of seconds before it was falling to the ground to join its brother. The following two screws suffered from various stages of stickiness, but after switching hands due to the sharp edges cutting completely through the skin on his fingers, he was able to get both of them off, the cover itself clattering to the ground along with them.

He wanted to sing a joyful song of praise as he stuck his head out of the hole. The only problem now was how he was going to get out without hurting himself. The ground below him was about eight or nine feet down: not too bad were you jumping down on your feet, but quite a bit more painful if you were falling face-first.

He attempted to bring one of his legs forward in the tunnel, but there wasn't nearly enough space for him to do this – it simply got stuck halfway under his body. He then tried to turn himself onto his back, hoping to pull himself all the way out that way, but there was nothing above the airvent hole that he could grip to hold himself.

His hands, however, _were_ a bit sticky from sweat. Thinking that this might be the only way, he tried sticking his hands to the wall and pulling himself out bit by bit. He'd gotten his body about halfway out of the hole when his hands abruptly lost their grip and he fell backwards, knocking his head against the side of the wall before falling completely out and to the ground below.

His head was screaming. He immediately curled up, hands to his head and eyes clenched shut. A tiny whimper escaped his throat. He couldn't even comprehend anything for a few minutes, rocking back and forth silently on the rough carpet.

Once he'd finally recovered enough that he could open his eyes again, he let his hands fall away, scootching himself to a sitting position. His whole body was aching, and he had a nice slice through his pant legs right above the knees, blood already beginning to seep through.

He chewed on his finger silently.

With a deep, albeit shaky, breath, he pushed himself up to a standing position, wobbling a few times as his head tried to reorient himself. The office around him was exactly as it had looked from through the airvent: nobody there, the soft hum of computers all around him. The bright glare from the lights above seemed harsh after the absolute darkness of the tunnel.

He glanced over at the door, his eyes searching for the switch his uncle had told him about. It didn't take long to find it – about halfway up the door and to the left. He limped over and reached his hand up to pull down the lever.

The dull buzz that resonated from the door made his heart jump, and for a second he feared that he'd pulled the wrong switch. But no, nothing else happened. He peered through the glass and saw both his uncle and the panda walk quickly from their position by the restroom, opening the door and stepping inside to join him.

Andrew was immediately met with a swift smack to the side of his head, sending another jolt of pain through his nerves.

"What took you so long? I was beginning to think you'd finally done the world a favor and suffocated yourself."

He kept his eyes closed, hands to his head, until he was sure that Andross had walked away. He opened them tentatively to see both his uncle and the panda now hovering over one of the computer terminals. There was a familiar whirring noise as the recently-burned CD was stuck into the drive.

Curiosity began to get the best of him, and he slowly began making his way towards the two of them. Andross was now typing something furiously onto the keyboard.

"Alright... I'm closing the security doors."

A series of beeps came out of the computer. Andross mashed one of the keys in with his finger, a note of stubbornness seeming to resound with it. There was an almost instant reaction: the locking mechanism on the glass door gave a low hum, the sound of locks clicking into place, followed by a rather large slam from outside in the hallway as a sturdy-looking security door clanged shut.

Andrew stared outside the door, wide-eyed. A rather unsettling feeling was beginning to form in his stomach.

The panda had now taken his place at another desk, a series of blue windows popping up on the screen of his own computer monitor. The text was indecipherable from where Andrew stood, but he doubted he'd have been able to make sense of it even if he were closer. A huge wall of text was running across the screen on Andross' computer.

"I'm into the building schematics."

Another command was entered, a sub-window popping up with two new lines of text.

"I'm linking you over so you can bypass the security wall."

Andrew was shaking slightly as he watched, the two men working like well-oiled machines. He had no idea what was going on, what they were doing... but for some reason, he just knew that something was highly wrong here. He was suddenly in over his head, and he hadn't even jumped in the lake yet.

"Dexter, are you in the filter code yet?"

The panda didn't say anything for a moment. "...yeah. Yeah, I got it."

The whirring from the CD drive accelerated for a few seconds before settling back down. "Transferring..." A deluge of numbers and symbols began running up the computer screen.

Andrew inched a few steps closer, his eyes transfixed on the lines of data.

His uncle abruptly pulled back from the computer, practically running straight into him. He instantly curled up slightly, hands to his face, but similar to earlier that morning, he was completely ignored. Andross walked swiftly over to the side of the room where a control board with a number of lights and switches was splayed across a desk.

He paused, just staring at it. He appeared to be watching for something.

The panda was still typing, not even looking away from the computer screen. Window after window kept popping up, asking him for something else. Andrew had no idea what it was he was typing. The last window that popped up was slightly larger than the others had been, this one with two choices at the bottom.

"Alright, permission... granted."

With one more click on the keyboard, the windows began disappearing rapidly, fluttering into oblivion. At the control panel, two small lights near the top popped on with a faded, green color. Andross sprung to action almost immediately.

"Opening vent gates."

He pulled three switches that were in a vertical line near the lights. A new light popped on beneath them, this one red.

The panda turned away from his computer screen finally, looking up at Andross. His expression was different now, almost scared. Andross, himself, continued staring at the light for a few moments before turning on his heels and walking back towards his own computer.

"This is it, then, huh?"

Andross' eyes narrowed as he settled back down in his chair. On the panda's computer screen, one lone line of text had been typed, the cursor flashing on and off right after it.

"Push it."

The panda bit down on his bottom lip, squeezing his eyes shut as he tapped a key on the keyboard.

The text was imputed.

And then everything was silent. Or, well, as silent as it had been before. Nothing was changed. Nothing seemed different. Andrew took in a breath of air that he hadn't known he'd been holding, eyes scanning the room.

The panda was looking at Andross again, now chewing on the inside of his cheek. The ape in question sat silently for a few minutes, seemingly mulling over something in his head. Andrew's tail twitched nervously as he watched him.

With a start, he'd suddenly turned in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.

"Where's a TV?"

The panda scurried to his feet, almost tripping. There was a small TV hanging in one of the corners that he hurried to, and he quickly pressed his finger into the power button. It came on with a buzz.

As the picture slowly came into focus, Andrew watched a view of trees appear on the screen. It was some news channel, doing a story about how a few surrounding cities still had damage to be cleaned up from the storms just two nights ago. It was old news, nothing all that interesting... but both his uncle and the panda were now watching it intently.

In fact, they continued doing just that for the next five minutes. The news went on, now reporting on a small press conference being held regarding the city-wide Emergency Operations Center that had opened to handle the storms, then completely shifting gears and going on about the annual Tri-Cornerian Bike Ride that took place every summer.

Andrew was getting restless. He kept expecting something to happen... _anything_... but there was nothing.

He brought a finger to his mouth and began chewing on it softly. A sudden feeling downstairs announced to him that he had to use the restroom.

Another few minutes went by. He nonchalantly crossed his legs, clasping his hands behind his back.

The sound of energetic music coming from the television tore his thoughts away from his urinary needs, and his head quickly shot up. A flash of blue was racing across the screen, followed by the words "Breaking Update". A groomed ferret in a pressed suit appeared with a microphone.

"This just in, I'm down by the Consler Building where a recent mass evacuation seems to be taking place." Just past him, said building could be seen with a horde of people pushing their way through the doors.

Andross didn't move, his chin resting in his hand as he sat, glowering.

"Initial reports are coming in that some sort of white fume or cloud began coming in through the airvents of the building. These have yet to be confirmed or identified, but there seem to be quite of number of people who've witnessed it." The crowd around him was increasing almost exponentially. "Let me see if I can't get an eyewitness report."

As the ferret began calling out to a few nearby evacuees, Andrew looked back to both his uncle and the panda, the latter of which now running a hand across his head nervously. Andross had a strange smile on his face.

"There was... there was... I was just sitting at my desk, working... right? And then, see, my office is by a wall... this... _horrible _smell started, and... it was like a cloud or something! Coming out of the vent!"

Each interviewee seemed more hysterical than the last.

"It started filling the whole room, it did! I don't know what it was! Was it a gas or something?"

"Are they trying to kill us all? I could barely breathe in there!"

"I think I feel my lungs burning..."

The ferret was now back in the center of the camera, looking only slightly flustered. "Reports are also coming in that Mayor Ainsdale herself is actually in the building at this time. As of yet, she hasn't been seen exiting the building. A Hazmat team has been called in by the Metro Police Department, but they're still on their way."

The sound of ambulance sirens going off could be heard in the distance, at first, barely audible over the sound of the bustling congregation. Some of the newer people to emerge from the building could be seen with their hands to their mouths, coughing. A few were even bent over.

Andrew's bathroom needs were all but forgotten now as he just stared at the TV. It wasn't possible, was it? It couldn't be. He didn't even notice that his hands were now clutching his shoulders.

"Hold up, what's this? It's the mayor!" There was a raucous display of shouting as people turned, trying to see the mayor. The camera itself refocused, zooming in towards the door of the building. The mayor, clad in her business skirt, could be seen stumbling out the doors, a mass of attendants attempting to help her. She was coughing up something horrible, arms clutching her stomach as she leaned forward.

"Yes... that's it."

Andrew didn't even realize that the voice was coming from the room he was in at first. He turned his head to see his uncle now leaning forward in his chair, both elbows now resting on his knees.

"Breathe it in, Marie. Breathe it all in."

Back on the screen, the ocelot in question was now on her knees, her shoulders shaking with each cough. Two attendants, coughing themselves, were trying to lift her up by her arms, though not having much success. By now, cops had begun arriving on the scene, the sirens much closer.

"Breathe in that which you thought was a harmless threat. An issue that didn't need to be discussed."

A number of stragglers were still making their way out of the building, some of them falling onto the grass once they'd cleared the stairs, some stumbling out into the throng of people surrounding them. Ambulance workers were rushing out amongst them, carrying stretchers. Cops were attempting to work their way past the evacuees and into the building, now wearing oxygen masks.

"You said there was no need for research on bioweapon defense. You said there was no reason for my ideas... my _glorious_ ideas... to be brought to fruition." Andross was on his feet now. "But what's running through your head now? What thoughts are encapsulated in that tiny skull of yours as you cough up half of your lungs?"

Andrew was staring at him in fear, having already taken a step back from his menacing stance. Even the panda seemed a bit fearful.

As the last shots came on with the mayor being put on a stretcher and hauled across the compound, a low laugh began to resound in the room. It started out as a deep grumble, fleshing out into a full-fledged cackle as Andross threw his shoulders back, breathing in his own victory.

It caused a chill to run down Andrew's spine, a terrifying memory that would refuse to dissipate even for years to come.

There was a horrible crash from outside the office. All three heads turned towards the door, the solid security wall still secured in place. Another crash: obviously, someone was trying to get in. The sound of voices could be heard, though stifled heavily by the thick steel.

"Dammit, how did they track us already?" Andross was back in his seat, swiveling towards the computer.

"I... I don't know. I cancelled all communications and hot signals that could have been coming out of here... we should be dead to the world." The panda was already typing away at something on his keyboard. The mass confusion on the TV screen seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

Andrew flinched as another crash resounded through their office. They seemed to be getting louder. He hugged his arms to his chest instinctively, curling in on himself. After a quick glance around the room, he hurried over to a nearby vacant desk and crawled underneath it, huddled against the side.

Andross' eyebrows were furrowed as he scanned across the information displayed on his screen. The panda turned to him, eyes filled with fear. "It won't be long before they get plasma cutters..."

"Yes. I know." Andross' expression didn't change. His body was sitting perfectly rigid, not even flinching with each new crash.

The panda was positively fretting now, his hands clenching the back of his chair so hard his knuckles were turning white. "W... what are we gonna do?"

"There's nothing we _can_ do." Andross stood back up from his chair, his hands finally leaving the keyboard. For a few moments, he simply stood there, head facing the ground. Suddenly, as if something had snapped in his head, an almost maniacal smile began to spread across his face, his fists clenching.

"Let them come."

He smashed a button on the keyboard, a thunderous roar echoing around them as the security door screeched open. The voices intensified almost a hundred fold, now closing in on them.

Andrew heard the sharp crack of breaking glass as he clenched his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around his legs. Footsteps resounded around him, crushing him. He began to shake almost uncontrollably.

The last feeling he had as he opened his eyes to see his uncle being slammed to the desk was that of a warmth spreading through his pants. Just before slipping unconscious, he hoped to himself that no one would notice.


	2. Part 2

Yay for part two.

Thank you to everyone who took some time out of their day to read this, though it may not be the most uplifting thing in the world.

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A Study on Juveniles in Affluent Society

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-Part 2-

"Andross is your uncle, correct?"

"...yeah."

"And... you live with him?"

"...yeah."

There was the scratching of pen on paper.

"How exactly did you come to live with him?"

"..."

Both sets of eyes were focused directly on him.

"We need you to answer these questions for us, Andrew."

"My parents... they died..."

"Ah."

"So, Andross was your only living relative then?"

Andrew shook his head.

"You have others?"

"W... well... my aunt. My cousins..."

"Ah, so your aunt and uncle are separated then? Do you know when this happened?"

Andrew shook his head again.

"And that's it then? No grandparents? No one else?"

"N...no..."

More pen scratching.

"I... I did have another uncle though... he died..."

"Really? And what was his name?"

"Zeke..." And then as an afterthought, "...nobody liked him."

Both men nodded their heads as if they understood.

"Alright then, Andrew. Why don't we move on to what happened today, hm?"

He didn't say anything, not even wanting to look at them. He fiddled with the collar of his shirt.

"You didn't go to school today, did you?"

"...no."

"And why was that?"

He chewed on his lower lip. "He didn't... take me there..."

"And by he, you mean Andross, correct?"

Andrew didn't respond.

"Do you have a good relationship with your uncle?" This came from the other man, almost hurried. Andrew felt the area around his eyes tighten.

"..."

Both men were staring at him rather intently now.

"Andrew, how do you get along with him? Does he take good care of you?"

Andrew bit down on his tongue. Hard. "Uncle Andross loves me..."

"Has he ever spanked you before?"

"..."

"Ever caused you any kind of pain?"

"..."

"Has your uncle ever touched you in a way you didn't like?"

"_My uncle would never do those things!_" He was leaning forward in his chair now, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks.

This time it was the men that didn't have anything to say.

"My uncle... he... he loves me... he's nice to me... he... he always..." His hands were to his face now, trying to cover up the fact that he was crying.

It was a few minutes before anything else was said. Andrew brought his knees up to his chest, burying his head in them.

"Andrew, why don't we go back to what happened today?"

But Andrew wasn't going to say anything else.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he was finally released from his interview, the first thing that Andrew did was go to the bathroom. It took him a while to find, as the entire police station was a mass confusion of people, officers and technicians, but after asking a kind-looking secretary which direction to go, he made it there without a hitch.

When he came back out of the restroom, not really feeling much better, he maneuvered his way through the throng of people and to the small cot that had been set up in one of the deputy's offices. He sat down on it, slightly relieved. The deputy, himself, wasn't in the office at the moment.

As he looked back out into the main office, he couldn't help the small pit that formed in his stomach as he watched everyone bustle about. He felt so alone. He didn't know anyone here, and none of them even seemed to care about him. He felt like he'd gone down a rabbit hole or something – everything in his life had been flipped around, twisted... and there was no way for him to go back.

A faint voice caught his attention, causing his head to jerk to the side. He pushed himself off the cot, padding his way back to the door and peeking out. His tail was curling up in a bemused manner.

There was a TV nearby, his uncle's form centered inside. It was a news channel, though not the one he was used to watching. His uncle was sitting behind a tall table of some sort, not looking nervous at all. In fact, his expression reminded him of some of the last few moments he'd spent with him down in the underground office.

Haughty. Conceited.

Demoniacal.

The caption underneath read "Well-known Scientist Pleads Guilty to Consler Substance".

"Andrew...? Andrew!!"

He turned quickly, startled by the sound of his name. Dee was standing a short ways away, a knap sack slung over her shoulders and a pair of sunglasses resting on her forehead. As soon as their eyes met, she rushed forward, pulling him into an almost crushing embrace.

"Drew-bear! Oh my God, I was so scared!"

He buried his head into her shoulder, relief rushing over him for the first time since he'd come to the police station.

"Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?" She pushed him back, eyes running up and down his form. "If they hurt you, I swear to God, I'll-"

He shook his head, a smile forming on his face. "I'm fine."

She watched him for a few seconds, biting her lip as her eyes watered. Finally, she pulled him back into another hug.

"When I saw the news, I... I didn't even know what to think. I'm still in shock, it's just so..."

Andrew nuzzled his face into her neck.

"I'm just so glad that you're alright."

They held that for another minute before Dee finally rocked back on her heels, a quick hand coming up to wipe at her eye. She pushed herself up to a standing position, still looking down at him. "I haven't really talked to anyone except to tell them I was here to see you... what's been going on? Has anyone talked to you yet?"

Andrew nodded his head morosely, a finger instinctively coming to his mouth.

"This is just..." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's so crazy. I don't know what I'm supposed to do; I don't know what to think..."

A number of uniformed men walked past them, looking like they had a clear mission in mind. Andrew and Dee watched them walk into a far office.

"I don't think they're gonna let you leave yet... probably want to ask you some more questions." She paused a moment. "Probably want to ask _me_ some questions."

Back on the TV screen, it showed a number of people watching as Andross was questioned. Whoever it was doing the questioning looked like they were getting quite frustrated.

"They're taking good care of you, right? A place to sleep and food and everything?"

Andrew nodded.

"Do you want me to bring you anything? Anything from your house?"

Andrew wanted to ask if she would bring his dinosaur stuffed animal, but he felt slightly embarrassed by it, so he didn't. He finally just shook his head no.

"Oh, Drew-bear... always trying to be strong, huh?" She brought a hand down to ruffle through his hair, smiling.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next couple days passed by in a whirlwind of confusion and activity. Andrew barely even knew what was going on half of the time. He was brought back to that room again a few times, those eyes boring into him as they questioned him. Everytime they did, he would clam up, sink back into his shell... he didn't like them. He didn't like the way they talked – their condescending tones.

Every chance he could, he tried to watch his uncle on TV. He didn't understand most of what happened or what people were saying, but there was something about watching it that made him feel better.

The one terrifying thought that crossed his mind, however, was a question of whether he felt comfort in simply seeing his uncle again or comfort in the fact that everyone seemed to hate him.

There was one lieutenant that he grew rather fond of – he was younger than most of the others, and he would always come up to greet him in the hall or take him to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. In this new hectic environment he'd had to grow accustomed to, it was nice to have a friendly face to talk to.

Dee came back a few times as well – once just to see him, bringing him a hamburger from a nearby fast-food joint, and once because the police had called her in for questioning. When Andrew watched her walk back out of the interview room he'd grown so used to, he couldn't help but notice the despondent look spread across her face.

His head was constantly filled with questions. Simply added to the fact that he felt completely clueless most of the time was his constant worry about what was going to happen to him, what was going to happen to his uncle, and, perhaps most importantly, when he was going to get out of here.

It was suffocating him.

It wasn't until the fourth day after he'd been brought in that a change in the routine finally occurred. His friendly lieutenant woke him up from his cot, kneeling down beside it.

"Andrew, hey... wake up. I need to talk to you."

He opened his eyes groggily, his hand curled up tightly in the blankets around his face.

"Come on, bud."

He pushed himself up from the cot, shaking his head slightly. Once he was on his knees, he looked back to the lieutenant. "Lt. Baldwin?"

The salamander took his hand and led him away from the cot, walking past a number of other officers who were standing around an open donut-box, watching what was happening on the television. They kept walking until they came to one of the far-back offices, both the door and the blinds shut tight.

Lt. Baldwin knocked on the door. "Captain Lynx?"

There was a rough grunt from behind the door, followed by the squeak of a chair. "Yes, what is it?"

"It's Baldwin, sir. I'm here with Andrew."

The door opened, the gruff-looking feline in question looking back at them. "Right, right... come in."

Andrew was ushered in quickly, almost immediately sat down in a chair in front of the captain's desk. He glanced around, taking in his new surroundings, but as the captain abruptly sat down in front of him, he was snapped back into attention.

"Alright, Andrew. The reason we've called you in here is because a request has been made..."

Andrew cocked his head to the side.

"...by your uncle. He wants to talk to you."

His eyes opened up a bit wider, breath hitching in his throat. He looked back up to Lt. Baldwin behind him, searching for some sort of answer.

"Now... obviously we're not gonna take you there if you don't wanna see him, so we had to come and ask you first. He's down at the interim jail now – in a cell, so you don't have to worry about that... it's just up to you whether you wanna talk to him or not."

Andrew bit his lip, looking down at his lap.

Capt. Lynx brought a hand up to scratch at his ears. "If you don't, we can always just tell him that _we_ wouldn't let you... if... that's what you're worried about or something."

He was silent for a moment longer, seemingly entranced by a string that was coming out of his pants. Finally, his eyes came up to meet the captain's, and he shook his head resolutely.

"No, I wanna see him."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A guard stayed on watch at the door when Andrew entered the hallway where his uncle's cell was. It wasn't a very long one, and no one was in any of the surrounding cells. They'd probably vacated them due to his visit – they didn't look that fancy anyway. Being an interim jail, inmates weren't held there for all that long.

He walked forward slowly, turning his head to check on the guard every now and then. The guard, in turn, just nodded his head slightly.

He could see the shape of someone sitting against the bars in the third cell down, so he made his way over to that one, standing awkwardly as he glanced down at his uncle's seated form.

He scratched the side of his leg with his foot. "Uncle Andross...?"

There was an immediate movement from the form in front of him, and soon, he was staring down into his uncle's face. "Andrew! _Andrew..._" He was grasping the bars of the cell now. "You don't know how happy I am to see you again."

Andrew didn't say anything, just standing there with a blank look on his face.

"Come here, come here, boy..." His uncle ushered with his hands, reaching out through the bars.

Andrew took a tentative step forward, his tail twitching behind him.

"Have those nasty policemen been treating you well? You _are_ getting enough to eat, aren't you?"

He paused a moment before nodding, bringing a hand up to scratch at his head. Andross held his hand out towards him, and after a slight hesitation, he took it. His uncle pulled him forward gently until he was kneeling on the ground in front of him.

"Andrew, they... they're going to send me away."

Andrew looked up at his uncle's face, which was now gazing back despairingly.

"They're... going to send me far away. I won't be able to come back." He reached his hand through the bars again, this time running it through Andrew's hair. "I don't want to go, but I don't have any choice."

Andrew brought his hands up to the bars in front of him, gripping them tightly.

"I... I don't want to say this, but... I'm afraid. You know what that's like, Andrew, don't you? I'm afraid..."

He nodded back dolefully.

"I'm going to be all alone."

Andrew raised his head. "Uncle Andross...?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you with this. You don't need to hear this." He gave a rather forced intake of breath, hissing slightly between his teeth. "You... Andrew... you won't leave me alone... will you? You wouldn't let that happen..."

Andrew gazed up, the feeling of his uncle's hand on his cheek. He shook his head.

"You're my pal, right? You're... you're..."

Andrew leaned his head forward to rest on one of the bars, Andross bringing a hand up to gently scratch the top of it.

"I love you, Andrew. You know that, don't you? I love you..."

Andrew could feel tears building in his eyes. "I love you too..."

Andross reached through the bars as well as he could to embrace him, pulling him in towards him while still being wary of the bars. He ran his hand comfortingly over Andrew's back as his nephew simply cried.

"You'll never leave me, Andrew..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"The decision was reached yesterday, the verdict in: the scientist and Cornerian Research Director, Andross Oikonny, is to be sent to the far planet of Venom. After flooding the Consler Building with an as of yet unknown chemical, hundreds of people, if not thousands, are now being hospitalized, including recently-appointed Mayor Ainsdale. It's still uncertain how serious their conditions are or will get in the future, but reports are already coming in that even relatives and friends of the afflicted are beginning to grow ill as well. Caution is to be taken as..."

Andrew watched the television screen from his position in Dee's arms, chewing on his finger silently. Dee was currently talking with one of the officers at the station, going on about the condition of the roads downtown.

"Seemed accomplice, Dexter Borada, has also been charged, but has pleaded that Andross forced him into cooperation using illegal means. His trial will continue on at a later date, and he is now being held at City Public."

An old yak appeared on the screen, the bar underneath indicating him as County Sheriff Hockinsmith. "...we've taken everything into account that we can. And, of course, this isn't saying that we're not pressing him for information on the substance either. We've got our Hazmat team working furiously as well as other scientists from the Research Department doing their best to crack the so-called 'shell' of this bacteria, virus... we're not really sure what."

The microphone moved off-screen as the reporter talked. "But these scientists are from Andross' own department. Aren't you afraid that some of them might still be working for him?"

"At this point, there's not a lot else we can do. At the rate this is spreading, we've got to do everything we can to combat it."

"Do you think that sending Andross off like this isn't a tad bit drastic? Or even safe?"

"We've got hundreds of people dying from an unknown disease, and you're going to talk to me about being drastic?! I think we've gone far past that point by now! He's obviously crazy, deranged... who knows what could happen if he were to stay here, what kind of friends he might still have here... how can you stand there and..."

Andrew turned away from the TV, resting his head down on his cousin's shoulder.

"...things haven't been the same at the office since. Everybody's just going crazy; half of them haven't even come in to work... I feel like I'm in a nuthouse or something." Dee repositioned Andrew in her arms, scootching him up slightly.

"Things haven't calmed down here at all either. In fact, there seems to be even more people here than when that old codger was first brought in." Lt. Baldwin was leaning forward against one of the counters, eyes scanning behind Dee and out into the rest of the office.

Andrew was listening to their conversation in only half-interest, his eyelids beginning to droop.

A rather portly basset hound was making his way towards the three of them. He was carrying a green folder, the appearance of sweat on his forehead indicating that he'd just been involved in a slightly rigorous activity. Either that or the simple act of walking had him practically out of breath.

He stopped at the counter, using an arm to support himself against it. Both Baldwin and Dee looked up at his arrival.

"I'm... looking for the boy... Andrew Oikonny?"

Andrew's eyes popped open, though he didn't move from his position. Dee shifted her own position so she was facing the basset hound full-on, allowing him to better see Andrew.

"He's right here... what do you need him for?"

The dog took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his head off, waiting until he'd stuck it back in before speaking again. "There's been so much paperwork lately that things kept getting pushed back and pushed back... I'm sorry that this is coming so late..."

Dee bit her lip. "What do you mean?"

"Andrew's custody case. It's finally starting to go through the system."

Her eyes narrowing slightly, she repositioned Andrew in her arms once more. "Custody case? What custody case?"

The hound placed the folder he'd been carrying onto the counter, his hand over the top. "Mr. Oikonny was his legal guardian, and now that his charge has been finalized, it will have to be decided what happens to Andrew. We've gone through the books, checking the records... the only other relative he has is an aunt..." He pulled open the top of the folder, looking in. "...Sabetha Northwick."

"My mother."

The hound looked up, a bit surprised. "Er... yes... you're...?"

"Dee Bowman."

"Ah, yes. You were on here as well, under the, ah, 'minor' section."

Dee chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking back at Andrew before returning her gaze to the dog.

"Anyway, Ms. Northwick expressed no desire to take him in..."

"Typical."

"...so at this point, we're leaving it up to the boy whether he wants to go with his uncle or get moved into a foster home."

Dee jerked back a bit in surprise. "Go with his uncle? Are you insane?"

"Er..."

"And what's all this about having no other place to put him? Gil and I would be _more_ than happy to take him. We're family, are we not? Why isn't that on your little list?" She jammed her finger down on the folder as it to emphasize her point.

The custody-worker was obviously a bit flustered now, reaching back into his pocket to retrieve the handkerchief once more. "Well, uh, that is... you're not twenty-one yet. You're not a legal adult."

"Legal adult, my ass. I already have a son of my own! My husband's twenty-four!"

"Yes, well... uh..."

"What's your name, sir?"

He looked confused a moment, head cocked to the side. "It's uh, Giles. Giles Lance."

Dee stepped right up into the hound's face, a finger raised... "Well then, Mr. _Lance_,you can just jot down in your little record-book that Andrew will be staying with us, and nothing or nobody is going to change that fact, you got it?"

He instinctively took a step back, now looking back and forth from Dee to Lt. Baldwin, who still hadn't said a word.

"Well, now, you see... uh... it will still ultimately be up to the boy, he, uh... he'll have to make the decision..."

Dee rolled her eyes. "Oh, like _that's_ gonna be a hard decision. You might as well put it down now that he's already decided to come with us."

"He'll have to, uh, express that in court. It's got to be down on record."

Dee let out an exasperated sigh, bringing a hand up to rub between her eyes. "What a waste of time..."

"But it's necessar-"

"_Yes._ Yes... I _know_... it's necessary." She looked down at Andrew, his head still on her shoulder. "Do we need to set up a time or something then?"

"Ah, indeed. Yes, that's what we need to do. Is there some place we can perhaps sit down?" Giles began glancing about the police station.

"You can use the meeting room. I don't think anyone's using it right now." Lt. Baldwin finally spoke up, gesturing off towards the corner of the station.

"Yes, yes, excellent."

"Thank you, Kent." Dee nodded her head towards him before walking off in that direction, the hound following right behind. His clumsy walking was accentuated even more by the brisk pace she took.

With his head still down, Andrew let his eyes open slightly, watching the scenery around him change. He could barely suppress the sudden urge to cry.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was his last night at the police station. Things had quieted down a bit, given that it was almost bordering on midnight, but there were still a number of officers milling about around the desks. The light in the deputy's office had been shut off to allow him to sleep, but he couldn't even find a comfortable position to lie in, let alone fall asleep. For that reason, he was now sitting up on the cot, peering out the window near the door.

He almost felt nauseous, his emotions twisting and turning inside of him while he refused to let them out. Plus, he had to go to the bathroom again.

Tomorrow was the hearing.

Breathing out a shaky sigh, he watched as two familiar-looking officers walked past the window. He'd seen them a number of times, perhaps even had been introduced to them, but he didn't remember their names anymore. There were so many different people he'd met over the last couple of days that they were all melding together.

He was almost afraid that he'd forget his own name. But then again, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he could forget _everything_ about himself and just start his life over again.

He picked at a string that was coming out of the side of the cot. It was still securely fastened on one side, so he didn't have any luck in pulling it off. This only made him frustrated.

He really had to go now.

Wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, he got up from the cot. The tiled floor felt like ice against his bare feet, but he tried to put it out of his mind. Holding the blanket tight with one hand, he used the other to pull the door open, stepping out into the main office area.

A few people looked up as he walked out, though none said anything. Most just completely ignored him. His tail curling up behind him, he began making his way towards the other end of the office where the restrooms were. _Just down the back hallway and to the left._

The bathroom was completely empty, the lights actually having been turned off for the night. He reached up to flip them on before picking one of the middle stalls and stepping inside.

The toilet loomed ominously in front of him, a gaping hole, a staring eye.

He felt it rise up in his stomach suddenly, and he barely had time to get to the toilet. Doubled over, he vomited up the contents of his supper into the water, eyes clenched shut.

The taste was horrible.

Once the feeling of his entire stomach coming up through his throat dissipated, he simply stared down into the murky water, tears welling up in his eyes. His throat was burning now. It matched the feeling down below.

Tears began rolling down his cheeks, some of them falling into the toilet. Gripping the sides, he pushed himself away and back down onto his knees. The porcelain in front of him looked so pristine and clean from the outside, but he knew that inside it was now filthy. He'd made it filthy.

He still had to go to the bathroom, but he felt so weak now that he couldn't even stand up. Giving in, he decided to just go on the floor, but to no one's surprise, nothing came out. Again.

Maybe he'd done something horrible in his life and this was the retribution for it. Maybe the simple fact that he _existed_ upset someone somewhere.

He brought a hand up to wipe the snot away from his nose. The smell around him was a mixture of vomit and cleaning supplies. His stomach gurgled.

He wished his dad was here to give him a glass of lemon-lime pop like he always used to. And some soup too. He wanted to cuddle up in the blankets on the couch while his dad popped in his favorite movie. He'd even take that horrible-tasting medicine without complaining.

The fluorescent light buzzed noisily above him as the floor tiles dug into his knees.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright, Andrew. This is gonna be real easy, kay? They'll probably say a few things, maybe even ask a few questions, but pretty much all you have to do is say that you wanna live with Gil and me, alright? Easy-cheesy."

Andrew looked up at her, face blank. She was wearing her work clothes today. She'd come over her lunch break.

"I can't come in with you, though. I'll have to go in the other door and sit behind the railing."

He nodded before turning his gaze to the ground.

"This'll all be over soon, Drew-bear. Everything'll go back to normal... just like before." She rustled the hair on his head. "I'm gonna go ahead and go in now... Mr. Barnes is the one who's taking you into the courtroom."

Mr. Barnes smiled down at him, his teeth eerily white.

"Alright, see ya soon." She gave him a small wave before the sound of her heels clicking on the floor began moving away. Andrew stared at his reflection in the glossy tiles below him.

"Everything will be ok, Andrew."

Mr. Barnes sounded like he talked through his nose.

There was a cluster of footsteps from behind him, and soon a group of people had gathered around them. Some of them appeared quite flustered.

"Alright, we're here, we're here. Sorry we're late."

"The roads are horrible."

Giles was with them. He smiled down at Andrew when he saw him, though Andrew didn't smile back.

"Are you ready, Andrew?"

Why did everyone keep saying his name all the time? He felt young enough as it was, he didn't need people treating him like he was three.

He nodded his head.

"Let's go ahead and get inside then. The judge is on a tight schedule."

"After you, Andrew."

He walked in first, Mr. Barnes right behind him.

The courtroom wasn't all that large – the judge's podium towards the front with its two standard witness stands, tables and chairs for where the defense attorneys and prosecutors would sit, then the railing separating everyone else. He saw Dee sitting in one of the very first rows.

He also saw Andross.

He was sitting on the opposite side from Dee, a large number of guards sitting or standing around him. He was hand-cuffed.

Dee waved at him from her position on the bench. He didn't acknowledge her. He wasn't even breathing.

Mr. Barnes led him towards one of the tables, ushering him to be seated before sitting down himself. The others that had followed him in did the same, sitting down in any open chair near him.

A door on the opposite side of the podium opened abruptly, causing Andrew to jump. The judge, a haggard-looking goat, entered quickly, making his way to the podium. A uniformed guard rushed after him.

"P...please rise for Judge McArthur."

Everyone in the courtroom stood up, Mr. Barnes having to tug on the sleeve of Andrew's shirt to get him to pay attention.

The judge pulled a pair of glasses from his robe, placing them across the bridge of his nose. "Right, now... this is..." He cleared his throat, obviously reading something on the podium. "...the custody case for Andrew Dalton Oikonny?"

Mr. Barnes stood up. "Yes, your honor. A simple record-keeping procedure is all."

If one could live without their heart beating, Andrew would have sworn that his had completely stopped.

The judge waved for Mr. Barnes to sit back down. "Yes, yes... I see..." He began shifting through more of the paperwork on his desk. His eyes glanced up for a second. "This is the boy, then?"

"Yes, your honor."

Andrew looked down towards his lap.

"Right..." More paper shuffling. "...son of... Adrian and Dana Oikonny... legal guardian was... Andross Oikonny..." His head popped up again, eyes squinting as he peered out into the rest of the courtroom. "...other option for custody is... Gilroy and Dee Bowman."

Andrew was clutching his knees so hard his knuckles were turning white.

The judge began tapping the paper on his podium to straighten out the pile. "So, Andrew, it's all up to you then, is it?" He fixed his glasses, his eyes narrowing once again as he looked towards Andrew.

Andrew didn't say anything. Mr. Barnes gave him a gentle shove with his elbow. "Andrew, answer the judge."

"Yes... your honor..." The words could barely be heard between his teeth.

"What's that? I didn't hear you..." Judge McArthur now had a hand cupped around his ear.

"Y... yes... your honor..." He pressed his lips tightly together.

"Alright! Then let's get this thing rolling. Should only take a few minutes." He reached down from his podium to catch a sheet of paper that had fallen on the floor in his earlier rush. He brought his other hand to his mouth for a quick cough while scanning the sheet with his eyes. "Andrew... do you understand that the choice you make here is the same as a legally-binding contract, all rights then withheld to your new guardian, who shall have, yadda yadda yadda... you understand all that, right? You say who you wanna live with? You live with them. Simple as that."

Andrew glanced up nervously, his spit getting stuck in his throat as he tried to swallow. He was too scared to look back at either Dee or Andross.

"Right, well, I assume you've already made your choice... so, up on your feet. As soon as you say it, we can get on with our lives."

Mr. Barnes ushered Andrew to a standing position.

His body felt as rigid as a tree. Or a fire poker. Either way, he could barely move. A drop of sweat came down from his forehead, but he couldn't even reach up to wipe it away. The judge was watching him intensely, his eyes boring into him, but it was nothing like the feeling of the eyes watching him from behind.

He turned ever so slightly. He could see Andross out of the corners of his eyes, watching him. They watched each other. Andross' face was blank, though Andrew could make out the faintest signs of futility. Of despondence.

"_You'll never leave me, Andrew..."_

He clenched his eyes shut, wrenching his head back to the front. As hard as he tried to hold back the tears, he could feel them building in his eyes.

"_You wouldn't leave me alone, would you?"_

"Andrew, what are you doing? You've got to speak to the judge."

Mr. Barnes could go to hell, along with all of his cronies at the courthouse.

"_I love you, Andr-_"

"I wanna go with my uncle."

The room was silent. Absolutely, completely silent.

The judge shifted his glasses on his nose. "Ah, see? Simple enough." He scrawled something on the paper in front of him. "Papers are set to go, that's all you have to do."

Andrew felt a strange sensation of serenity wash through him.

"Andrew...?"

The voice came from behind him, disbelieving.

"Andrew...?"

There was a crack in it this time. Andrew didn't want to turn around. The sound of heels on the ground told him that his cousin was standing up now.

"_Andrew?_"

There was a strange sense of desperation in her voice. Andrew tucked his head down, but finally lifted it slightly to look at her. She was leaning forward, clutching the railing. He couldn't even describe the expression on her face.

"_Andrew!_"

She reached forward, her whole body pressing against the railing. She was trying to get over it.

"Will somebody keep her back? The last thing I want is some kind of scene." The judge rubbed where his glasses had been sitting on his nose, already starting to walk toward the exit. A few guards began walking to where Dee was already halfway over the railing, two of them taking her shoulders as gently as they could and trying to push her back.

"_No! Andrew!"_

She was beginning to get a bit hysterical. She attempted to push herself past the guards, still ever-reaching towards her cousin. The guards began to use a bit more force, now clutching her upper-arms.

And all the while, Andrew simply looked back at her.

"Come along, Andrew."

Mr. Barnes held his hand out for him, and he took it without a word. The two began walking for the exit after the judge, the others who had come in to witness it also rising from their seats.

"_Andrew, come back! I... he's my..._"

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down."

"_Andreeeeeew!!"_

Andross was still seated on the other side of the room, watching. A sinister smile was stretched across his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was back at his uncle's house - they'd taken him here to pack up anything he wanted to take with him from his room. When he'd first walked into the house, it had been almost eerie. All the lights were off, only the sunlight coming in from the entryway windows casting light across the room, and it was deathly quiet. Everything still looked the same, though. Untouched. Unmoving.

Mr. Barnes waited for him at the door while he went up the stairs. His footsteps echoed throughout the entire house, haunting against the absolute silence.

He didn't even bother to turn on any lights until he got to his room, and when he did, it was almost too bright. It made everything that was happening to him that much more real, and suddenly he felt weak.

A number of drawers were already open, and when he glanced over, he saw that all of his clothes had already been taken. He supposed this meant that he was just supposed to take any other personal possessions that he wanted.

He wondered what would happen to everything he left behind.

He set the duffle bag he'd been given down in the middle of the floor and began walking around, his eyes scanning over the entire room. His bed was the same as he'd left it, hastily made without the actual bedsheets underneath, and there were still of number of things strewn across the carpet that he'd forgotten to pick up.

His action figures stared at him from the shelf to his left, and next to them was a wooden gumball machine that he'd made in school during their tech unit. He had a number of baseball caps hanging from a rack on the wall, sporting the names of various sports teams or, his favorite, the one that had been signed by James McCloud, himself.

Though, actually... it might have been signed simply in spite. The Star Fox leader and his uncle had never really gotten along, so he'd seemed_ more_ than happy that the scientist's nephew was excited to meet him.

Maybe that's why it read "To My Number 1 Fan", complete with three underlines.

His closet seemed so empty now that most of the clothes were gone. All that was left were the naked hangars still suspended from the various racks. It was slightly unnerving.

Andrew closed the closet doors.

When he walked back to his bed, he saw his dinosaur stuffed animal sitting on the floor near it, so he reached over to pick up, cradling it in his arms. It stared back at him with its lifeless eyes, looking almost worse than it had before, with fluff threatening to pop out from its nose and all four legs. The same smile it always bore was scrawled lazily across its face.

"_He's a stegosaurus."_

"_Stego...saur...us?"_

"_He's a dinosaur!"_

_He smiled as he looked down at the green plush in his hands._

"_I like dinosaurs."_

"_Now you'll have someone to cuddle even when your dad and I have to leave for a while."_

_He hugged the plush to his chest, resting his chin on its head._

"_But I still don't like it when you leave..."_

"_I know, it's hard on all of us... but there's not a lot we can do. The military isn't exactly lenient when it comes to things like that...and your father has to work double-time when I'm gone."_

_His eyes went up to her face as he hugged it tighter._

"_I know..."_

"_Just remember - when you hug him, your dad and I can feel it! It'll be just like hugging us, ok?"_

_He glanced back down at the dinosaur, not quite sure how it was possible, but totally believing it anyway._

"_I'll sleep with him every night!"_

_She ruffled the hair on his head, laughing._

Her laughter was what stuck in his head as he stared down at the dinosaur. It was laughing too. They were both laughing... so happy...

He wished he could laugh with them.

He wished he could smile with them.

His hands tightened around the dinosaur. Its head began bulging out, the smile expanding as if he'd just heard a funny joke. The fluff pushing further out its nose made it seem even more comical.

It was dying, but it continued to smile.

Andrew wished he could do the same thing, but he wasn't as strong as the dinosaur. It had always been there to protect and watch over him, but who was watching over _it?_ It would sit and suffer with age, but still it would be smiling. Still it would laugh.

Why did it do that? Couldn't it see what was happening? Couldn't it feel _anything_?

Andrew's hands had completely closed around the dinosaur's neck now. Its head looked like a balloon, its eyes bulging out and the seams stretching. And still, its grin radiated off the front of its face.

Andrew smiled.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Andrew, your uncle's here!"_

_He peeked over the railing at the top of the steps._

"_Uncle Andross!"_

_He was down in a flash, reaching upwards as his uncle pulled him into a hug._

"_When did you get so big?"_

"_Mom says it's all the milk I drink."_

_He smiled._

"_The drive all that bad?"_

"_No, can't say it was. Just missed the work rush."_

_His dad was piling bags near the front door._

"_You're still sure about this, though? I mean, we could take him to Dana's folks. Wouldn't be a problem at all."_

"_No, no, of course not. When would I pass up time to spend with my nephew?"_

"_We're gonna have to watch movies, play video games..."_

"_You got the time off work ok?"_

"_...play dinosaurs, go to the park..."_

"_I pretty much run the place now. I could make my own schedule if I wanted to."_

"_...go get ice cream, go to the pool..."_

_His mom walked in, carrying her own suitcase._

"_...I _thought_ I felt the temperature drop a few degrees..."_

_He felt his uncle's body stiffen slightly._

"_Dana."_

"_Andross."_

"_I see you're as nettlesome as ever."_

"_Only enough to get under your skin."_

_He didn't like it – the tension in the room nor the strained look on his father's face._

"_Dana, honey... could we please not deal with this now? We're going on vacation, can't we get along?"_

_His mother set her bag by the door, glancing up at them a bit venomously._

"_I still don't like that we're leaving Andrew with him."_

"_He and Andrew get along great, honey..."_

"_That's what worries me..."_

_He reached up to take his uncle's hand, bringing his other hand up to chew on his finger._

"_Whatever, I guess I can't help the people you're related to."_

_His father shot his uncle an apologetic look._

"_I've been waiting for this vacation forever... I'm not gonna let someone like him ruin it."_

"_Right, right, honey... s'gonna be lots of fun. Just keep that in mind."_

"_Yes, Dana. It's going to be a _blast_."_

_She stopped for a moment, simply eyeing him with her teeth clenched. Finally, she pushed the door open with her hip and hauled her bag outside._

_His father was gathering up the remaining bags and shuffling to the door himself._

"_Sorry about that."_

"_Frankly, I couldn't care less."_

"_I'll call you guys in a couple a' days... make sure everything's fine."_

"_Bye, daddy!"_

_He raised his hands up towards his father, who reached down to ruffle the top of his head._

"_See ya, bud. You be good for your uncle now, kay?"_

_He nodded._

"_Take care, bro."_

_He mimicked his wife, pushing open the door and stepping out._

_His uncle smiled. There was something about it, however, that sucked all the joy out of Andrew's heart._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The shuttle in front of him glared harshly beneath the sun. He actually had to shield his eyes in order to see it with any sort of efficiency. The sun itself felt unnaturally warm, the air stagnant and muggy around him.

His last day on Corneria was a scorcher.

He had his own small suitcase gripped tightly in his hand. Mr. Barnes, who was standing next to him now, was holding a bigger one that contained most of his clothes. He was getting exceedingly more and more annoyed by the man's presence, though he wasn't sure why. All he knew was that no matter where he looked, he saw the bright glint of the man's teeth.

It was... unnerving.

"This is the shuttle you'll travel in, Andrew."

Maybe all the effort someone took in creating his teeth wasn't mimicked in the creation of his brain.

He glanced up at him, blankly. A drop of sweat fell down the side of his neck, soaking into the collar of his shirt.

Just ten some minutes ago, he'd watched the police escort his uncle into the shuttle. He'd been sitting in the spaceport waiting area, staring out the window. Andross had looked so small surrounded by all those guards in their uniforms and ammo belts and boots. He wondered where they'd gone now... probably inside the plane.

They weren't going to escort _him_ inside, were they?

Mr. Barnes began to walk forward towards the shuttle, looking back for a second to make sure that Andrew was following. Taking the hint, Andrew darted forward slightly before settling in place beside him.

When they made it to the stairs leading up to the shuttle, Andrew stopped, simply gazing up at the ascending path before it disappeared into the darkness of the aircraft. For the first time since the hearing, he was suddenly scared. He couldn't let the idiot next to him know, though, so he forced a smile onto his face, gripping the railing.

"Up. Come along, Andrew. Into the shuttle."

He didn't even acknowledge him, waiting a moment longer before deciding for _himself_ that he wanted to go up the stairs. Lugging his suitcase behind him, he trudged wearily upwards. The sun's heat felt even stronger here, as it reflected itself off the metal stairs.

Finally entering the shuttle itself, he gave a small sigh of relief from the coolness that met him. Not only was it out of the sun, but it was air-conditioned. Andrew felt himself instantly thankful for the small pleasures in life.

A guard met him at the entrance, leading him over towards one of the baggage compartments. He and Mr. Barnes both set the luggage they'd been carrying down, watching as the guard shoved them inside the alcove and secured the lock to hold them in place.

The atmosphere of the shuttle was strange. Very strange. There was barely anyone inside, though there were quite a number of empty seats. A few guards were roaming around or simply standing off towards the walls, and up near the front, he could see into the cockpit, two men already seated inside and working at the controls. Behind him was where the back section of the plane started, a single curtain separating the two parts from each other.

"Alright, Andrew. I suppose this is all you'll be needing me for. Is there anything you need me to do before I leave?"

He wanted to tell him to take a long walk off a short pier, but he decided it wouldn't be entirely appropriate. Finally, he simply shook his head no.

Mr. Barnes gave a slight bow before turning around on his heels and heading towards the exit. Andrew watched him go, chewing on his bottom lip. Once the man had disappeared, he switched his gaze to the white curtain in the back. It fluttered softly, though there was no breeze coming in. His breath hitched in his throat.

A guard walked right by him, heading towards the exit, which knocked Andrew out of the semi-trance he'd been in. He wondered how many of the guards were actually going to fly with them. He couldn't imagine that many of them would be staying, but obviously, they were going to need _some_.

He turned his head to glance once more at the cockpit, though nothing had changed. ...how long was it going to be before they took off? He slumped down into one of the nearby seats, letting his legs hang over the armrest lazily.

His thoughts traveled back to Dee – how she'd looked in court. The last time he saw her at the police station. The last Christmas they'd spent together.

It hurt to think about her, though. It hurt to think about her, and Gil, and Dash, and his parents... so he decided not to. Thinking about nothing seemed much more beneficial to his health. A giant black square, perhaps. Hell, even thinking about Mr. Barnes seemed like a better option. His nasally voice seemed to echo in his head.

The curtain was wavering slightly again. His eyes became focused on it without him even noticing. A guard walked past him from where he'd been standing at the front of the plane. He didn't so much as glance down at him before making his way out the exit.

Andrew wondered what it would be like to wrench out every one of Mr. Barnes' perfectly white teeth. Maybe then he wouldn't smile all the time. He didn't deserve to smile that much. The dinosaur had protected him, watched over him, even died for him, but what had Mr. Barnes done besides look down on him as if he knew everything about the entire world? No right. None, whatsoever.

The white curtain looked like a giant tooth. Maybe this whole plane was a large mouth, trying to find something to munch on.

Andrew stood up from his chair, using the back of the seat in front of him to pull himself up and over the armrest. Walking silently over to the curtain, he watched as the folds in it rustled a bit, looking almost like an ocean suspended in mid-air. If he reached his hand in, maybe he could pull out a fish.

He took one side of the curtain in his hand and pulled it back. The sound of the rings holding it up sliding across the curtain rod above him sounded harsh against his ears. He immediately brought a finger to his mouth and began chewing on it.

"Hello, Andrew."

He didn't say a thing. Didn't even move at first. Finally, his tail curling up between his legs, he stepped past the threshold and into the harsh reality he'd brought upon himself.

And then he smiled.


End file.
